V      X.       .  t 


SITY  OF 
LOS 


I-^A 


fOth  Congress, 
2(f  Session. 


fDoc.  No.  3.] 


Ho.  OF  Reps. 

Executive. 


77 


rKOU  THS 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


TO  BOTH  BOUSES  OF  OOXTGBESS, 


AT  THE 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  SECOND  SESSION 


«?  TBS 


TWENTZETB  CONGRESS. 


DECKMBEUfi^  1828. 
Betd,  and  committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoiue  on  the  state  of  the  Union. 


WASHINGTON  : 

iruirrsD  bt  salib  &  aiATOV* 
18S8. 


> •  •    -• " 


•  •      • 

•  •  •  • 

•  •        • 


••  •••    •  •    •••  !••  •      • 


[Doc.  No.  2,]  a 


^r< 


mmn^ 


^iSil 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  house  of  representatives  : 

-  If  the  enjoyment  in  pt'ofusion  of  the  bounties  of  Providence  forms  a 
suitable  subject  of  mutual  gratulatioii  and  grateful  acknowledgment,  we 
arc  admonished  at  this  return  of  the  season,  when  the  Representatives  of 
the  nation  are  assembled  to  deliberate  upon  their  concerns,  to  offer  up  the 
tribute  of  fervent  and  grateful  hearts,  for  the  never-failing  mercies  of  Him 
who  ruleth  over  all.  He  has  again  favored  us  with  healthful  seasons  and 
abundant  harvests.  He  has  sustained  us  in  peace  with  foreign  countries, 
and  in  tranquillity  within  our  borders.  He  has  preserved  us  in  the  quiet 
and  undisturbed  possession  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  He  has  crown- 
ed the  year  witli  his  goodness,  imposing  on  us  no  other  conditioPiS  than  of 
improving,  for  our  own  happiness,  the  blessings  bestowed  by  liis  hands  ; 
and  in  the  fruition  of  all  his  favors,  of  devoting  the  faculties  with  which 
we  have  been  endowed  by  hini  to  his  glory,  and  to  our  own  temporal  and 
eternal  welfare. 

In  the  relations  of  our  Federal  Union  with  our  brethren  of  the  human 
race,  the  changes  which  have  occurred  since  the  close  of  your  last  session 
have  generally  tended  to  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  to  the  cultivation 
of  harmony.  Before  your  last  separation,  a  war  had  unhappily  been  kin- 
dled between  the  Empire  of  Russia,  one  of  those  with  which  our  inter- 
course has  been  no  other  than  a  constant  excliangc  of  good  offices,  and 
that  of  the  Ottoman  I'orte,  a  nation  from  whicli  geographical  distance,  reli- 
gious opinions,  and  maxims  of  government,  on  their  part,  little  suited  to 
the  formation  of  those  bonds  ot  mutual  benevolence  which  result  from  the 
benefits  of  commerce,  had  ke|)t  us  in  a  state,  jK-rhaps  too  niiicii  prolonged, 
of  coldness  and  alienation.  Tlie  extensive,  fertile,  and  jwpulous  dominions 
of  the  Sultan  belong  rather  to  the  Asiatic,  (ban  tlie  European  division  of  the 
human  family.  They  enter  but  partially  into  the  system  of  Eiu'ope  :  nor 
have  their  wars  with  Russia  and  Austria,  the  European  States  upon  which 
they  bordei-,  for  more  than  a  ( entury  jjast,  distiiibed  the  pacific  relations 
of  those  States  with  the  otlur  Great  Powers  of  Europe.  Neither  France, 
nor  Prussia,  nor  Great  Britain  has  ever  taken  \n\vt  in  them  ;  nor  is  it  to 
be  expected  tliat  lliey  will  at  this  time.  The  declaration  of  war  by  Rus- 
sia has  received  the  apj)r(>bati()ii  or  acquiescence  of  her  allies,  and  wo  may 
indulge  the  hope  that  its  progress  and  termination  will  be  signalized  by 
the  moderation  and  forbearance.  uo.lcjiS^  Uijgm  by  the  energy  of  tlie  Empc- 

»>  ft)  /  !  t'^ 


4  [Doc.  No.  2.J 

ror  Nicholas;  and  that  it  will  afford  the  opportunity  for  such  collateral 
agency  in  bchalt'of  the  suffering  Greeks,  as  will  secure  to  them  ultimately 
tlie  triumph  of  humanity  and  of  freedom. 

The  state  of  our  particular  relations  witli  France  has  scarcely  varied 
in  the  course  of  the  present  year.  The  commercial  intercourse  between 
the  two  countries  has  continued  to  increase  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  both. 
Tlje  claims  of  indemnity  to  numbers  of  our  fellow-citizens  for  depredations 
upon  their  property,  heretofore  committed,  during  the  Revolutionary  Go- 
vernments, remain  unadjusted,  and  still  form  the  subject  of  earnest  repre- 
sentation and  remonstrance.  Recent  advices  fi-om  the  Minister  of  the 
United  States  at  Paris  encourage  the  expectation  that  the  a^ipeal  to  the 
justice  of  the  French  Government  will  ere  long  receive  a  favorable  consi- 
deration. 

The  last  friendly  expedient  has  been  resorted  to  for  the  decision  of  the 
controversy  with  Great  Britain,  relating  to  the  Northeastern  Boundary  of 
the  United  States.  By  an  agreement  with  the  British  Government,  car- 
rying into  effect  the  provisions  of  the  fifth  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
and  the  Convention  of  29th  September,  1827,  his  Majesty  the  King  of 
the  Netherlands  has,  by  common  consent,  been  selected  as  the  umpire  be- 
tween the  parties.  The  proposal  to  him  to  accept  the  designation  for  the 
performance  of  this  friendly  office  will  be  made  at  an  early  day  ;  and  the 
United  States,  relying  upon  the  justice  of  their  cause,  will  cheerfully  com- 
mit the  arbitrament  of  it  to  a  Prince  equally  distinguished  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  his  spirit,  his  indefatigable  assiduity  to  the  duties  of  his  sta- 
tion, and  his  inflexible  personal  probity. 

Our  commercial  relations  with  Great  Britain  will  deserve  the  serious 
consideration  of  Congress,  and  the  exercise  of  a  conciliatory  and  forbear- 
ing spirit  in  the  policy  of  both  Governments.  The  state  of  them  has  been 
materially  changed  by  the  act  of  Congress  passed  at  their  last  session, 
in  alteration  of  the  several  acts  imposing  duties  on  imports,  and  by  acts 
of  more  recent  date  of  the  British  Parliament.  The  effect  of  the  inter- 
diction of  direct  trade,  commenced  by  Great  Britain,  and  reciprocated 
by  tiie  United  States,  has  been,  as  was  to  be  foreseen,  only  to  substitute 
different  channels  for  an  exchange  of  commodities  indispensable  to  the 
colonies,  and  profitable  1o  a  numerous  class  of  our  fellow-citizens.  The 
exports,  the  revenue,  the  navigation  of  the  United  States,  have  suffered 
no  diminution  by  our  exclusion  from  direct  access  to  the  British  Colonies. 
The  Colonies  pay  more  dearly  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  which  their  Go- 
vernment burdens  with  the  charges  of  double  voyages,  freight,  insurance, 
and  commission  ;  and  the  profits  of  our  exports  are  somewhat  impaired, 
and  more  injuriously  transferred  from  one  portion  of  our  citizens  to  ano- 
ther. The  resumption  of  this  old  and  otherwise  exploded  system  of  co- 
lonial exclusion,  has  not  secured  to  the  shipping  interest  of  Great  Britain 
the  relief  which,  at  the  expense  of  the  distant  colonies,  and  of  the  United 
States,  it  was  expected  to  afford.  Other  measures  have  been  resorted  to, 
more  pointedly  bearing  upon  the  navigation  of  the  United  States,  and 
which,  unless  modified  by  the  construction  given  to  the  recent  Acts  of 
Parliament,  will  he  manifestly  incompatible  with  the  positive  stipulations 
of  the  commercial  convention  existing  between  the  two  countries.  That 
convention,  however,  may  be  terminated,  with  twelve  month's  notice,  at 
the  option  of  either  party. 

A  treaty   of  Amity,    Navigation,  and  Commerce,  between  the  United 


[Doc.  No.  2.]  5 

States  and  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  King  of  Hungary  and 
Bohemia,  has  been  prepared  for  signature  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and 
by  the  Baron  de  Lederer,  intrusted  with  full  powers  of  the  Austrian  Go- 
vernment. Independently  of  the  new  and  friendly  relations  which  may 
be  thus  commenced  with  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  powerful  nations  of 
the  earth,  the  occasion  has  been  taken  in  it,  as  in  other  recent  Treaties 
concluded  by  the  United  States,  to  extend  those  principles  of  liberal  inter- 
course and  of  fair  reciprocity  whicii  intertwine  with  the  exchanges  of 
commerce  the  principles  of  justice,  and  the  feelings  of  mutual  benevo- 
lence. This  system,  first  proclaimed  to  the  world  in  the  first  commercial 
Treaty  ever  concluded  by  the  United  States,  that  of  6th  February,  1778, 
with  France,  has  been  invariably  the  cherished  policy  of  our  Union.  It 
is  by  treaties  of  commerce  alone  that  it  can  be  made  ultimately  to  prevail 
as  the  established  system  of  all  civilized  nations.  With  this  principle, 
our  fathers  extended  the  hand  of  friendship  to  every  nation  of  the  globe, 
and  to  this  policy  our  country  has  ever  since  adhered — whatever  of  regu- 
lation in  our  laws  has  ever  been  adopted  unfavorable  to  the  interest  of  any 
foreign  nation,  has  been  essentially  defensive  and  counteracting  to  similar 
regulations  of  theirs  operating  against  us. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  Independence,  Commissioners 
were  appointed  by  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  authorized  to  con- 
clude treaties  with  every  nation  of  Europe  disposed  to  adopt  them.  Be- 
fore the  wars  of  the  French  revolution,  such  treaties  had  been  consum- 
mated with  the  United  Netherlands,  Sweden,  and  Prussia.  During  those 
wars,  treaties  with  Great  Britain  and  Spain  had  been  effected,  and  those 
with  Prussia  and  France  renewed.  In  all  these,  some  concessions  to  the 
liberal  principles  of  intercourse  proposed  by  the  United  States  had  been 
obtained  ;  but  as,  in  all  the  negotiations,  they  came  occasionally  in  colli- 
sion with  previous  internal  regulations,  or  exclusive  and  excluding  com- 
pacts of  monopoly,  with  which  the  other  parties  had  been  trammelled,  the 
advances  made  in  them  towards  the  freedom  of  trade  weie  partial  and 
imperfect.  Colonial  establishments,  chartered  companies,  and  ship-build- 
ing influence,  pervaded  and  encumbered  the  legislation  of  all  the  great 
commercial  States;  and  the  United  States,  in  offering  free  trade  and 
equal  privilege  to  all,  were  compelled  to  ac(iuiescc  in  many  exceptions 
with  each  of  the  parties  to  their  treaties,  acco'.jimodated  to  their  existing 
laws  and  anteiior  engagements. 

The  colonial  system,  by  which  this  whole  hemisphere  was  bound,  has 
fallen  into  ruins.  Totally  abolished  by  revolutions,  converting  colonics  into 
independent  nations,  throughout  the  two  American  Continents,  excepting  a 
portion  of  teriiloiy  chiefly  at  the  noithci'n  extremity  of  our  own,  and  con- 
fined to  the  remnants  of  dominion  retained  by  Great  Britain  over  the  in- 
Huiai-  Arc  hipolago.  geographically  the  appendages  of  our  part  of  the  globe, 
Willi  all  the  rest  we  \\',\\v  free  trade— even  with  the  insular  Colonics  of  all 
the  European  nations,  ex(  ej)t  Gieat  Uritain.  Her  Government  also  had 
manifested  approaches  to  the  ado|)tion  of  a  free  and  liberal  intercourse  be- 
tween her  colonies  and  other  nations,  though,  l)y  a  sudden  and  scarcely 
exjilained  revtilsifin.  the  spii-it  of  exclusion  has  been  revived  for  operation 
upon  the  Unitid  States  alone. 

The  conclusion  of  our  last  Treaty  of  Peace  with  Great  Britain  was 
shortly  afterwards  followed  by  a  Commercial  Convention,  placing  the  di- 
rect intercourse  between  the  two  countries  upon  a  footing  of  tnore  equal 


6  [Doc.  No.  2.] 

rcciprority  tlian  liad  ever  before  been  admitted.  Tbc  same  principle  has 
since  been  much  fui-tlier  extended  by  treaties  with  France,  Sweden,  Den- 
marlv,  the  llansoatic  Cities,  Prussia  in  Europe,  and  with  the  Republics 
of  Colombia,  and  of  Central  America,  in  this  hemisphere.  The  mutual 
abcdition  of  discriminating  diities  and  charges,  upon  the  navigation  and 
commercial  intei'couise  between  the  parties,  is  tlic  general  maxim  which 
characterizes  them  all.  There  is  reason  to  expect  that  it  will,  at  no  dis- 
tant period,  be  adopted  by  other  nations,  both  of  Europe  and  America ;  and 
to  hoi)e.  that,  by  its  universal  ])revalence,  one  of  the  fruitful  sources  of  wars 
of  connnei'cial  competition  will  be  extinguished. 

Among  the  nations  upon  whose  Governments  many  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens have  had  long  pending  claims  of  indemnity  lor  depredations  upon 
their  property  during  a  period  when  the  rights  of  neutral  commerce  were 
disregarded,  was  tliat  of  Denmark.  They  were,  soon  after  the  events  oc- 
curred, the  subject  of  a  special  mission  from  tlie  United  States,  at  the  close 
of  which,  the  assurance  was  given,  by  his  Danish  Majesty,  that,  at  a  pe- 
riod of  more  tranquillity,  and  of  less  distress,  they  would  be  considered, 
examined,  and  decided  upon,  in  a  spirit  of  determined  purpose  for  the  dis- 
pensation of  justice.  I  have  much  pleasure  in  informing  Congress  that  the 
iulfilmcnt  of  this  honorable  promise  is  now  in  progress;  that  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  claims  has  already  been  settled,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  claim- 
ants; and  that  we  have  reason  to  hope  that  the  remainder  will  shortly  be 
placed  in  a  train  of  equitable  adjustment.  This  result  has  always  been 
confidently  expected,  from  the  character  of  personal  integrity  and  of  bene- 
volence which  the  Sovereign  of  the  Danish  Dominions  has,  through  every 
vicissitude  of  fortune,  maintained. 

I'he  general  aspect  of  the  affairs  of  our  neighboring  American  nations 
of  the  South,  has  been  rather  of  approaching  than  of  settled  tranquillity. 
Internal  disturbances  have  been  more  frequent  among  them  than  their 
common  frieiids  would  have  desired.  Our  intercourse  with  all  has  con- 
tinued to  be  that  of  friendship,  and  of  mutual  good  will.  Treaties  of  Com- 
merce and  of  Boundaries  with  the  United  Mexican  States  have  been  nego- 
tiated, but,  from  various  successive  obstacles,  not  yet  brought  to  a  final 
conclusion.  Tiie  civil  war,  which  unfortunately  still  prevails  in  the  Re- 
publics of  Central  America,  has  been  unpropitious  to  the  cultivation  of  our 
commercial  relations  with  them;  and  the  dissentions  and  revolutionary 
changes  in  the  Republics  of  Colombia  and  of  Peru,  have  been  seen  with  cor- 
dial regret  by  us,  who  would  gladly  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  both. 
It  is  with  great  satisfaction,  however,  that  we  have  witnessed  the  recent 
conclusion  of  a  peace  between  the  Governments  of  Buenos  Ayres  and  of  Bra- 
zil ;  and  it  is  equally  gratifying  to  observe  that  indemnity  has  been  obtained 
for  some  of  the  injuries  which  our- fellow-citizens  had  sustained  in  the  lat- 
ter of  those  countries.  The  rest  are  in  a  train  of  negotiation,  which  we 
hope  may  terminate  to  mutual  satisfaction,  and  that  it  may  be  succeeded  by 
a  Treaty  of  Commerce  and  Navigation  upon  liberal  principles,  propitious 
to  a  great  and  growing  commerce,  already  important  to  the  interests  of 
our  countiy. 

The  condition  and  prospects  of  the  revenue  are  more  favorable  than  our 
most  sanguine  expectations  had  anticipated.  The  balance  in  the  Trea- 
sury, on  the  first  of  January  last,  exclusive  of  the  moneys  received  under 
Vhe  Convention  of  13th  November,  1826,  with  Great  Britain,  was  five 
millions  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventy- 


[Doc.  No.  2.]  T 

two  dollars,  and  eighty-three  cents.  The  receipts  into  the  Treasury  from 
the  first  of  January  to  the  30th  of  September  last,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
ascertained  to  form  the  basis  of  an  estimate,  amount  to  eighteen  millions 
six  hundred  and  tliirty-tlirec  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty  dollars 
and  twenty-seven  cents,  which,  with  the  receipts  of  the  present  quarter, 
estimated  at  five  millions  four  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  dollars  and  forty  cents,  form  an  aggregate  of  re- 
ceipts during  the  year  of  twenty-four  millions  and  ninety-tour  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-three  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents.  The  ex- 
penditures of  the  year  may  probably  amount  to  twenty-five  millions  six 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  eleven  dollars  and 
sixty-three  cents ;  and  leave  in  the  Treasury,  on  the  first  of  January  next, 
the  sum  of  five  millions  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  six  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  dollars,  fourteen  cents. 

The  receipts  of  tlie  present  year  have  amounted  to  near  two  millions 
more  than  was  anticipated  at  tlie  commencement  of  the  last  session  ot 
Congress. 

The  amount  of  duties  secured  on  importations,  from  the  first  of  January 
to  the  30th  of  September,  was  about  twenty-two  millions  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  thousand,  and  that  of  the  estimated  accruing  revenue  is  five 
millions;  forming  an  aggregate  for  the  year  of  near  twenty-eight  millions. 
This  is  one  million  more  than  the  estimate  made  last  December  for  the  ac- 
cruing revenue  of  the  present  year,  which,  with  allowances  for  drawbacks 
and  contingent  deficiencies,  was  expected  to  produce  an  actual  revenue  ot 
twenty-two  millions  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Had  these  only 
been  realized,  the  expenditures  of  the  year  would  have  been  also  propor- 
tionally reduced.  For,  of  these  twenty-four  millions  received,  upwards  of 
nine  millions  have  been  applied  to  the  extinction  of  public  debt  bearing  an 
interest  of  six  per  cent,  a  year,  and  of  course  reducing  the  burden  of  in- 
terest annually  payable  in  future,  by  the  amount  of  more  than  half  a  mil- 
lion. Tlie  payments  on  account  of  interest  during  the  current  year  ex- 
ceed three  millions  of  dollars;  presenting  an  aggregate  of  more  than 
twelve  millions,  applied  during  the  year  to  the  discharge  of  the  public 
debt,  the  whole  of  which  remaining  due  on  the  first  of  January  next  will 
amount  oidy  to  fifty-eight  millions  three  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars,  seventy-eight  cents. 

That  the  I'evenue  of  the  ensuing  year  will  not  fall  short  of  that  received 
in  the  one  now  exj)iring,  there  are  indications  which  can  scarcely  prove 
decejjtivc.  In  our  country,  an  unifoiMu  experience  of  forty  years  has 
shown,  that,  whatever  the  tariff  of  duties  upon  articles  imported  from 
abroad  has  been,  the  amount  of  iniporlations  has  always  borne  an  average 
value  nearly  appioaching  to  that  of  the  exports,  though  occasionally  dif- 
fering in  the  balance,  sometimes  being  more,  and  sometimes  less.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  general  law  of  jnosperous  commerce,  that  the  real  value  of  ex- 
ports hhould,  by  a  small,  and  only  a  small  balance,  exceed  that  of  im- 
jjorts,  thiit  balance  being  a  j)ermanent  addition  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation. 
The  extent  of  the  prosj)erous  commerce  of  the  nation  must  be  regulated  by 
the  amount  of  its  exports;  and  an  important  addition  to  tlie  value  of  these 
will  (haw  adei'  it  a  (onesjionding  increase  of  importations.  It  has  hap- 
pened, in  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons,  that  the  harvests  of  all  Europe 
have,  in  the  late  Sinnmer  and  Autiunn,  fallen  short  of  their  usual  average. 
A  relaxation  of  the  interdict  ujion  the  importation  of  grain  and  flour  from 


8  [Doc.  No.  2.] 

abroad  lias  ensued  ;  a  propitious  market  has  been  opened  to  the  granaries 
of  our  country ;  and  a  new  prospect  of  reward  presented  to  the  labors  of 
the  husbandman,  which,  for  several  years,  has  been  denied.  This  acces- 
sion to  the  profits  of  agiiculture  in  the  middle  and  western  portions  of  eur 
Union  is  accidental  and  tempoiary.  It  may  continue  only  for  a  single 
year.  It  may  be,  as  has  been  often  experienced  in  the  revolutions  of  tinie, 
but  the  first  of  several  scanty  harvests  in  succession.  We  nn\y  consider 
it  certain,  that,  for  the  approaching  year,  it  has  added  an  item  of  large 
amount  to  the  value  of  our  exj)ort.s,  and  tliat  it  will  produce  a  correspond- 
ing increase  of  importations.  It  may,  thei-efore,  confidently  be  foreseen 
that  the  revenue  of  1829  will  equal,  and  probably  exceed,  that  of  1828, 
and  will  afford  the  means  of  extinguishing  ten  millions  more  of  the  princi- 
pal of  the  public  debt. 

This  new  clement  of  prospei'ity  to  that  part  of  our  agricultural  industry 
which  is  occupied  in  producing  the  first  article  of  human  subsistence,  is  of 
the  most  cheering  chaiacter  to  the  feelings  of  patriotism.  Proceeding 
from  a  cause  which  humanity  will  view  with  concern,  the  sufferings  of 
scarcity  in  distant  lands,  it  yields  a  consolatory  reflection,  that  this  scar- 
city is  in  no  respect  attributable  to  us.  That  it  comes  from  the  dispensa- 
tion of  Him  who  ordains  all  in  wisdom  and  goodness,  and  who  pei'mits 
evil  itself  only  as  an  instrument  of  good.  That,  far  from  contributing  to 
this  scarcity,  our  agency  will  be  applied  only  to  the  alleviation  of  its  se- 
verity ;  and  that,  in  pouring  forth,  from  the  abundance  of  our  own  garners, 
the  supplies  which  will  partially  restore  plenty  to  those  who  are  in  need, 
we  shall  ourselves  reduce  our  stores,  and  add  to  the  price  of  our  own 
bread,  so  as  in  some  degree  to  participate  in  the  wants  which  it  will  be  the 
good  fortune  of  our  country  to  relieve. 

The  great  interests  of  an  agricultural,  commercial,  and  manufacturing 
nation,  are  so  linked  in  union  together,  that  no  permanent  cause  of  pros- 
perity to  one  of  them  can  operate  without  extending  its  influence  to  the 
others.  All  these  interests  are  alike  under  the  protecting  power  of  the 
legislative  authority ;  and  the  duties  of  the  representative  bodies  are  to 
conciliate  them  in  harmony  together.  So  far  as  the  object  of  taxation  is  to 
raise  a  revenue  for  discharging  the  debts  and  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
community,  its  operation  should  be  adapted,  as  much  as  possible,  to  suit  the 
burden  with  equal  hand  upon  all,  in  propoition  with  their  ability  of  bearing 
it  without  oppression.  But  the  legislation  of  one  nation  is  sometimes  inten- 
tionally made  to  bear  heavily  upon  the  interests  of  another.  That  legisla- 
tion, adapted,  as  it  is  meant  to  be,  to  the  special  interests  of  its  own  people, 
will  often  press  most  unecpially  upon  the  several  component  interests  of  its 
neighbors.  Thus,  the  legislation  of  Great  Britain,  when,  as  has  recent- 
ly l)een  avowed,  adapted  to  the  depression  of  a  rival  nation,  will  naturally 
abound  with  regulations  of  interdict  upon  the  productions  of  the  soil  or 
industry  of  the  other,  which  come  in  competition  with  its  own;  and  will 
present  encouragement,  perhaps  even  bounty,  to  the  raw  material  of  the 
other  State,  which  it  cannot  jiroduce  itself,  and  which  is  essential  for  the 
use  of  its  manufactures,  comjjetitors  in  the  markets  of  the  world  with  those 
of  its  commercial  rival.  Such  is  the  state  of  the  commercial  legislation  of 
Great  Britain,  as  it  bears  upon  our  inteiests.  It  excludes,  with  interdict- 
ing duties,  all  importation  (excej)t  in  time  of  aj)proaching  famine)  of  the 
great  staple  productions  of  our  Middle  and  Western  States ;  it  pro- 
scribes, with  equal  rigor,  the  bulkier  lumber  and  live  stock  of  the  same 


[Doc.  No.  2.]  9 

portion,  and  also  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  part  of  our  Union.  It  re- 
fuses even  the  rice  of  the  South,  unless  aggravated  with  a  charge  of  duty 
upon  the  Northern  carrier  who  brings  it  to  them.  But  the  cotton,  in- 
dispensable for  their  looms,  they  will  receive  almost  duty  free,  to  weave 
it  into  a  fabric  for  our  own  wear,  to  the  destruction  of  our  own  manufac- 
tures, which  they  are  enabled  thus  to  undersell.  Is  the  self-protecting 
energy  of  tliis  nation  so  helpless  that  there  exists,  in  the  political  insti- 
tutions of  our  country,  no  power  to  counteract  the  bias  of  this  foreign 
legislation  ?  that  the  growers  of  grain  must  submit  to  this  exclusion 
from  the  foreign  markets  of  tiieir  produce;  that  the  shippers  must  dis- 
mantle their  ships,  the  trade  of  the  North  stagnate  at  tbe  wharves,  and 
the  manufacturers  starve  at  their  looms,  while  the  whole  People  shall  pay 
tribute  to  foreign  industry,  to  be  clad  in  a  foreign  garb  ;  that  the  Congress 
of  the  Union  are  impotent  to  restore  the  balance  in  favor  of  native  in- 
dustry destroyed  by  the  statutes  of  another  realm  ?  More  just  and  more 
generous  sentiments  will,  I  trust,  prevail.  If  the  tariff  adopted  at  the  last 
session  of  Congress  shall  be  found,  by  experience,  to  bear  oppressively 
upon  the  interests  of  any  one  section  of  the  Union,  it  ought  to  be,  and  I 
cannot  doubt  will  be,  so  modified  as  to  alleviate  its  burden.  To  the  voice 
of  just  complaint  from  any  portion  of  their  constituents,  the  Representa- 
tives of  the  States  and  of  the  People  will  never  turn  away  their  ears.  But, 
so  long  as  the  duty  of  the  foreign  shall  operate  only  as  a  bounty  upon  the 
domestic  article — while  the  planter,  and  the  merchant,  and  the  shepherd, 
and  the  husbandman,  shall  be  found  thriving  in  their  occupations  under 
the  duties  imposed  for  the  protection  of  domestic  manufactures,  they  will 
not  repine  at  the  prosperity  shared  with  themselves  by  their  fellow-citi- 
zens  of  other  professions,  nor  denounce,  as  violations  of  the  Constitution, 
the  deliberate  acts  of  Congress  to  shield  from  the  wrongs  of  foreign  laws 
the  native  industry  of  the  Union.  While  the  tariff  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress  was  a  subject  of  legislative  dclibera'tion,  it  was  foretold  by  some 
of  its  ojjposcrs  that  one  of  its  necessary  consequences  would  be  to  impair 
the  revenue.  It  is  yet  too  soon  to  pronounce,  with  confidence,  that  this 
prediction  was  erroneous.  Tlie  obstruction  of  one  avenue  of  trade  not  unfre- 
quenlly  oj)ens  an  issue  to  another.  The  consequence  of  the  tariff  will  be  to 
increase  the  exportation,  and  to  diminish  the  importation  of  some  specific 
articles.  But,  by  the  general  law  of  trade,  the  increase  of  exportation  of 
one  article  will  be  followed  by  an  increased  importation  of  others,  the  du- 
ties upon  which  will  supply  the  deficiencies  which  the  diminished  impor- 
tation would  otherwise  occasion.  The  effect  of  taxation  upon  revenue  can 
seldom  be  foreseen  with  certainty.  It  must  abide  the  test  of  experience. 
As  yet,  no  symptoms  of  diiiiiiiulion  are  perceptible  in  the  receij)ts  of  the 
I'leasury.  As  yet,  little  addition  of  cost  has  even  been  experienced  upon 
the  articles  burthened  with  heavier  duties  by  the  last  tariff.  'I'he  domes- 
tic manufacturer  supi)lies  the  same  or  a  kindred  article  at  a  diminished 
price,  and  the  consumer  jiays  the  same  ti'ibutc  to  the  labor  of  his  own 
countryman,  which  he  must  other>vise  have  paid  to  foreign  industry  and 
toil. 

'I'he  tariff  of  the  last  session  was,  in  its  details,  not  acceptable  to  the 
great  interests  ofany  |)ortioii  (»f  the  Union;  not  even  to  the  interest  which 
it  was  specially  inleuded  to  subserve.  Its  object  was  to  balance  the  bur- 
dens upon  native  industry  imposed  by  the  oj)eratioti  of  foreign  laws;  but 
not  to  aggravate  the  burdens  of  one  section  of  the  Union  by  the  relief  af- 


i  0  [l^oc.  No.  2.] 

forilcil  to  anotlicr.  To  the  great  principle  sanctioned  by  that  act,  one  of 
those  upon  which  the  Constitution  itself  was  fonncd,  I  hope  and  trust  the 
authorities  of  the  Union  will  adhere.  IJut  if  any  of  the  duties  imposed  by 
the  act  only  relieve  tlie  manufacturer  by  aggravating  the  burden  of  the 
planter,  let  a  careful  revisal  of  its  provisions,  enlightened  by  the  practical 
cxpei'ience  of  its  cftects,  be  directed  to  retain  those  w  hich  impart  protec- 
tion to  native  industry,  and  remove  or  supply  the  jjlacc  of  those  which 
only  alleviate  one  great  national  interest  by  the  depression  of  another. 

The  United  States  of  America,  and  the  People  of  every  State  of  which 
they  are  composed,  are  each  of  them  Sovereign  Powers.  The  legislative 
authority  of  the  whole  is  exercised  by  Congress,  under  authority  granted 
them  in  the  common  Constitution.  The  legislative  power  of  each  State 
is  exercised  by  assemblies  deriving  their  authority  from  the  Constitution 
of  the  State.  Each  is  sovereign  within  its  own  province.  The  distribu- 
tion of  power  between  them  presupposes  that  these  authorities  will  move 
in  harmony  with  each  other.  The  members  of  the  State  and  General 
Governments  are  all  under  oath  to  support  both,  and  allegiance  is  due  to 
the  one  and  to  the  other.  The  case  of  a  conflict  between  these  two  powers 
has  not  been  supposed ;  nor  has  any  provision  been  made  for  it  in  our 
institutions;  as  a  virtuous  Nation  of  ancient  times  existed  more  than  five 
centuries  without  a  law  for  the  punishment  of  parricide. 

More  than  once,  however,  in  the  progress  of  our  history,  have  the  People 
and  the  Legislatures  of  one  or  more  States,  in  moments  of  excitement, 
been  instigated  to  this  conflict ;  and  the  means  of  cflfecting  this  impulse 
have  been  allegations  that  the  acts  of  Congress  to  be  resisted  were  uncon- 
stitutional. The  People  of  no  one  State  have  ever  delegated  to  their 
Legislature  the  power  of  pronouncing  an  act  of  Congress  unconstitutional ; 
but  they  have  delegated  to  them  powers,  by  the  exercise  of  which  the 
execution  of  the  laws  of  Congress  within  the  State  may  be  resisted.  If 
we  suppose  the  case  of  such  conflicting  legislation  sustained  by  the  cor- 
responding Executive  and  Judicial  authorities,  patriotism  and  philan. 
thropy  turn  their  eyes  from  the  condition  in  which  the  parties  would  be 
placed,  and  from  that  of  the  people  of  both,  which  must  be  its  victims. 

The  Reports  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  various  subordi- 
nate offices  of  the  resort  of  that  Department,  present  an  exposition  of  the 
public  administration  of  aff\\irs  connected  with  them,  through  the  course 
of  tlie  current  year.  The  present  state  of  the  Army,  and  the  distribution 
of  the  force  of  whicii  it  is  composed,  will  be  seen  from  the  report  of  the 
Major  General.  Several  alterations  in  the  disposal  of  the  troops  have 
been  found  expedient  in  the  course  of  the  year;  and  the  discipline  of  the 
Army,  though  not  entirely  free  from  exception,  has  been  generally  good. 

The  attention  of  Congress  is  particularly  invited  to  that  part  of  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  which  concerns  the  existing  system  of  our 
relations  with  the  Indian  tribes.  At  the  cstablislimcnt  of  the  Federal 
Government,  under  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
principle  was  adopted  of  considering  them  as  foreign  and  independent 
Powers,  and  also  as  proprietors  of  lands.  They  were,  moreover,  con- 
sidered as  savages,  whom  it  was  our  policy  and  our  duty  to  use  our  influ- 
ence in  converting  to  Christianity,  and  in  bringing  within  the  pale  of 
civilization. 

As  independent  Powers,  we  negotiated  with  them  by  treaties ;  as  pro- 
prietors, we  purchased  of  them  all  the  lands  which  we  could  prevail  upon 


[Dec  Nc.  2.]  11 

them  to  sell ;  as  brethren  of  the  human  race,  rude  and  ignorant,  we  en- 
deavored to  bring  them  to  the  knowledged  of  religion  and  of  letters.  The 
ultimate  design  was  to  incorporate  in  our  own  institutions  tliat  portion  of 
them  which  could  be  converted  to  the  state  of  civilization.  In  the  prac- 
tice of  European  States,  before  our  Revolution,  they  had  been  considered 
as  children  to  be  governed ;  as  tenants  at  discretion,  to  be  dispossessed 
as  occasion  might  require;  as  hunters,  to  be  indemnified  by  trifling  con- 
cessions for  removal  from  the  grounds  from  which  their  game  was  extir- 
pated. In  changing  the  system,  it  would  seem  as  if  a  full  contemplation 
of  the  consequences  of  the  change  had  not  been  taken.  We  have  been 
far  more  successful  in  the  acquisition  of  their  lands,  than  in  imparting  to 
them  the  principles,  or  inspiring  them  with  the  spirit  of  civilization.  But 
in  appropriating  to  ourselves  their  liunting  grounds,  we  have  brought 
upon  ourselves  the  obligation  of  providing  them  with  subsistence ;  and 
wiien  we  have  had  the  rare  good  fortune  of  teaching  Uhem  the  arts  of 
civilization  and  tiie  doctrines  of  Christianity,  we  have  unexpectedly  found 
them  forming,  in  the  midst  of  ourselves,  communities  claiming  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  ours,  and  rivals  of  sovereignty  within  the  territories  of  tlie 
members  of  our  Union.  This  state  of  things  requires  that  a  remedy 
should  be  provided.  A  remedy,  which,  while  it  shall  do  justice  to  those 
unfortunate  children  of  nature,  may  secure  to  the  members  of  our  Con- 
federation their  rights  of  sovereignty  and  of  soil.  As  the  outline  of  a 
project  to  that  effect,  the  views  presented  in  the  Report  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  are  recommended  to  the  consideration  of  Congress. 

The  Report  from  the  Engineer  Department  presents  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  progress  which  lias  been  made  in  the  great  systems  promotive 
of  the  public  interest,  commenced  and  organized  under  the  authority  of 
Congress,  and  the  effects  of  which  have  already  contributed  to  the  securi- 
ty, as  they  will  hereafter  largely  contribute  to  the  honor  and  dignity  of 
the  nation. 

The  first  of  these  great  systems  is  that  of  fortifications,  commenced  im- 
mediately after  the  close  of  our  last  war,  under  the  salutary  experience 
wliicii  the  events  of  that  war  had  impressed  upon  our  countrymen  of  its 
necessity.  Introduced  under  the  auspices  of  my  immediate  predecessor, 
it  lias  been  continued  witli  the  persevering  and  liberal  encouragement 
of  the  Legislature ;  and  combined  with  corresponding  exertions  for  the 
gradual  increase  and  improvement  of  the  Navy,  piepares  for  our  ex- 
tensive country  a  condition  of  defence  adapted  ^  to  any  critical  emer- 
gency which  the  varying  course  of  events  may  bring  fortli.  Our 
advances  in  these  conceited  systems  have  for  the  last  ten  years  been 
steady  and  progressive;  and  in  a  few  years  more  will  be  so  completed  as 
to  leave  no  cause  for  apprehension  that  our  sea  cost  will  ever  again  offer 
a  tlieatic  of  hostile  invasion. 

The  next  of  these  cardinal  measures  of  policy,  is  the  preliminary  to 
great  and  lasting  works  of  public  improvement,  in  the  surveys  of  roads, 
examination  for  the  course  of  canals,  and  labors  for  the  removal  of  the 
obstructions  of  rivers  and  harbors,  first  commenced  by  the  Act  of  Con- 
gress of  30lh  of  April.  1824. 

The  report  exhibits  in  one  table  the  funds  appropriated  at  the  last  and 
preceding  sessions  of  Congiess,  for  all  these  fortilirations,  surveys,  and 
works  of  public  ini|)rovemciit :  the  manner  in  whirh  these  funds  have  been 
applied  ;  the  amount  expended  upon  the  several  works  under  construction, 
and  the  further  sums  which  may  be  necessary  to  complete  them. 


12  [Doc.  No.  2.] 

In  a  second,  tho  works  projected  by  the  Board  of  Engineers,  which 
liave  not  been  commenced,  and  the  cstiniatc  of  their  cost. 

In  a  third,  the  report  of  tlie  annual  Board  of  Visiters  at  the  Military 
Aiaileniy  at  West  Point. 

For  thirteen  fortilications,  erecting  on  various  points  of  our  Atlantic 
from  Rhode  Island  to  Louisiana,  the  aggi'cgate  coast,  expenditure  of  the 
year  has  fallen  a  little  siiort  of  one  million  of  dollars. 

For  the  prepai'ation  of  five  additional  reports  of  reconnoissanccs  and 
surveys  since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  for  the  civil  constructions 
npDu  thirty-seven  different  public  works  commenced,  eight  others  for  which 
specific  appropriations  have  been  made  by  acts  of  Congr-ess,  and  twenty 
other  incipient  surveys  under  the  authority  given  by  the  act  of  30th 
April,  1824,  about  one  million  more  of  dollars  has  been  drawn  from  the 
treasury. 

To  these  two  millions  of  dollars  is  to  be  added  the  appropriation  of 
250,000  dollars,  to  commence  the  erection  of  a  Breakwater  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Delaware  river;  the  subscriptions  to  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake, 
the  Louisville  and  Portland,  the  Dismal  Swamp,  and  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  Canals;  the  large  donations  of  lands  to  the  States  of  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  and  Alabama,  for  objects  of  improvements  within  those  States, 
and  the  sums  appropriated  for  Light  Houses,  Buoys,  and  Piers,  on  the 
coast;  and  a  full  view  will  be  taken  of  the  munificence  of  the  Nation  in  the 
application  of  its  resources  to  the  improvement  of  its  own  condition. 

Of  these  great  national  undertakings,  the  Academy  at  West  Point  is 
among  the  most  important  in  itself,  and  the  most  comprehensive  in  its 
consequences.  In  that  institution,  a  part  of  the  revenue  of  the  Nation  is 
applied  to  defray  the  expenseof  educating  a  competent  portion  of  her  youth, 
chiefly  to  the  knowledge  and  the  duties  of  military  life.  It  is  the  living 
armory  of  the  Nation.  While  the  other  works  of  improvement  enumerated 
in  the  reports  now  presented  to  the  attention  of  Congress,  are  destined  to 
ameliorate  the  face  of  nature;  to  multiply  the  facilities  of  communicatioa 
between  the  different  parts  of  the  Union  ;  to  assist  the  labors,  increase  the 
comforts,  and  enhance  the  enjoyments  of  individuals;  the  instruction  acquir- 
ed at  West  Point  enlarges  the  dominion  and  expands  the  capacities  of  the 
mind. 

Its  beneficial  results  are  already  experienced  in  the  composition  of  the 
Army,  and  their  influence  is  felt  in  the  intellectual  progress  of  society. 
The  institution  is  susceptible  still  of  great  improvement  from  benefactions 
proposed  by  several  successive  Boards  of  Visiters,  to  whose  earnest  and 
rej)eated  recommendations  I  cheerfully  add  my  own. 

With  the  usual  annual  reports  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  the 
Board  of  Commissioners,  will  be  exhibited  to  the  view  of  Congress  the 
execution  of  the  laws  relating  to  that  department  of  the  public  service. 
The  repression  of  j)iracy  in  the  West  Indian  and  in  the  Grecian  seas  has 
been  effectually  maintained,  with  scarcely  any  exception.  During  the  war 
between  the  Governments  of  Buenos  Ayres  and  of  Brazil,  frequent  colli- 
sions between  the  belligerent  acts  of  power  and  the  rights  of  neutral  com- 
merce occurred.  Licentious  blockades,  irregularly  enlisted,  or  impressed 
seamen,  and  the  property  of  honest  commerce,  seized  with  violence,  and 
even  plundered  under  legal  pretences,  arc  disorders  nevei  separable  from 
the  conflicts  of  war  upon  the  ocean.  With  a  portion  of  them,  the  corres- 
pondence of  our  commanders  on  the  eastern  aspect  of  the  South  American 
coast,  and  among  the  islands  of  Greece,  discover  how  far  we  have  been  in- 


[Doc.  No.  2.]  18 

volved.  In  these,  the  honor  of  our  country  and  the  rights  of  our  citizens 
have  been  asserted  and  vindicated.  The  appearance  of  new  squadrons  in 
the  Mediterranean,  and  the  blockade  of  the  Dardanelles,  indicate  the  dan- 
ger of  other  obstacles  to  the  freedom  of  commerce,  and  the  necessity  of 
keeping  our  naval  force  in  those  seas.  To  the  suggestions  repeated  in  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  tending  to  the  permanent  improve- 
ment of  this  institution,  I  invite  the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress. 

A  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  requesting  that  one  of  our 
small  public  vessels  should  be  sent  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  South  Sea,  to 
examine  tl»e  coasts,  islands,  harbors,  shoals,  and  reefs,  in  those  seas,  and 
to  ascertain  tlieir  true  situation  and  description,  has  been  put  in  a  train  of 
execution.  The  vessel  is  nearly  ready  to  depart ;  the  successful  accom- 
plishment of  the  expedition  may  be  greatly  facilitated  by  suitable  legisla- 
tive provisions  ;  and  particularly  by  an  appropriation  to  defray  its  neces- 
sary expense.  The  addition  of  a  second,  and,  perhaps,  a  third  vessel,  with 
a  slight  aggravation  of  the  cost,  would  contribute  much  to  the  safety  of  the 
citizens  embarked  on  this  undertaking,  tlie  results  of  which  may  be  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  our  country. 

"Witli  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  will  be  submitted,  in  con- 
formity to  the  Act  of  Congress  of  third  March,  1827,  for  the  gradual  im- 
provement of  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  statements  of  the  expendi- 
tures under  that  act,  and  of  the  measures  taken  for  carrying  the  same 
into  effect.  Every  section  of  that  statute  contains  a  distinct  provision, 
looking  to  the  great  object  of  the  whole,  the  gradual  improvement  of  the 
Navy.  Under  its  salutary  sanction,  stores  of  ship-timber  have  been  pro- 
cured, and  are  in  process  of  seasoning  and  preservation  for  the  future  uses 
of  the  Navy.  Arrangements  have  been  made  for  the  preservation  of  the 
live-oak  timber  growing  on  the  lands  of  the  United  States,  and  for  its  re- 
production, to  supply,  at  future  and  distant  days,  the  waste  of  that  most 
valuable  material  for  ship  building,  by  the  great  consumption  of  it,  yearly, 
for  the  commercial,  as  well  as  for  the  military  marine  of  our  country. 
The  construction  of  the  two  Dry  Docks  at  Cliarlestown  and  at  Norfolk  is 
making  satisfactory  progress  towards  a  durable  establishment.  The  ex- 
aminations and  inquiries  to  ascertain  the  practicability  and  expediency  of 
a  Marine  Railway  at  Pensacola,  though  not  yet  accomplished,  have  been 
postponed,  but  to  be  more  effectually  made.-  The  Navy  Yards  of  the 
United  States  have  been  examined,  and  plans  fortlicir  improvement,  and 
the  preservation  of  the  public  proj)erty  therein,  at  Portsmouth,  Cliarles- 
town, Philadelphia,  Washington,  and  Gosport,  and  to  which  two  others  are 
to  be  added,  have  been  ])rcpared,  and  received  my  saTiction;  and  no  other 
portion  of  my  public  duties  has  been  performed  with  a  more  intimate  con- 
viction of  its  impoitancc  to  tlic  future  welfare  aiul  security  of  the  Union. 

With  the  report  from  the  Postmaster  General,  is  exhibited  a  compara- 
tive view  of  the  gradual  increase  of  that  establishment,  from  five  to  five 
years,  since  1792,  till  this  time,  in  the  number  of  Post  Offices,  which  has 
grown  from  loss  than  two  hundred  to  nearly  etght  thousand :  in  the  re- 
venue yielded  by  them,  which,  from  sixty-seven  thousand  dollars,  has 
swollen  to  upwards  of  a  million  and  a  half,  and  in  the  number  of  miles 
of  Post  Roads,  whit:h,  from  five  thousand  six  huiulred  and  forty-two,  have 
multiplied  to  one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  five  hundred  aiul  thirty 
six.  While,  ill  the  same  jieiiod  of  time,  the  population  of  the  Union  has 
about  thrice  doubled,   the  rate  of  increase  of  these  offices  is  nearly  forty, 


14  [Doc.  No.  2.] 

and  of  the  revenue,  and  of  triivellcd  miles,  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  for 
one.  The  increase  of  revenue,  within  tlie  last  five  years,  has  been  nearly 
equal  to  the  whole  reveimc  of  the  Department  in  1812. 

The  expenditures  of  the  Department,  during  the  year  which  ended  on 
the  first  of  July  last,  have  exceeded  the  receipts  by  a  sum  of  about  twen- 
ty-five thousand  dollars.  The  excess  has  been  occasioned  by  the  increase 
of  mail  conveyances  and  facilities,  to  the  extent  of  near  eight  hundred 
thousand  miles.  It  has  been  supplied  by  collections  from  the  Postmasters 
of  the  arrearages  of  preceding  years.  While  the  correct  principle  seems 
to  be,  that  the  income  levied  by  the  Department  should  defray  all  its  ex- 
penses, it  has  never  been  the  policy  of  this  Government  to  raise  from  this 
establishment  any  revenue  to  be  applied  to  any  other  purposes.  The  sug- 
gestion of  the  Postmaster  General,  that  the  insurance  of  the  safe  trans- 
mission of  moneys  by  the  mail  might  be  assumed  by  the  Department,  for 
a  moderate  and  competent  remuneration,  will  deserve  the  consideration 
of  Congress. 

A  report  from  the  Commissioner  of  the  Public  Buildings  in  this  City 
exhibits  the  expenditures  upon  them  in  the  course  of  the  current  year. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  humane  and  benevolent  intentions  of  Congress  in- 
providing,  by  the  Act  of  £Oth  May,  1826,  for  the  erection  of  a  Peniten- 
tiary in  this  District,  have  been  accomplished.  The  authority  of  further 
legislation  is  now  required  for  the  removal  to  this  tenement  of  the  offend- 
ei's  against  the  laws,  sentenced  to  atone  by  personal  confinement  for  their 
crimes,  and  to  provide  a  code  for  their  employment  and  government  w  hile 
thus  confined. 

The  Commissioners  appointed,  conformably  to  the  act  of  2d  March, 
1327,  to  provide  for  the  adjustment  of  claims  of  persons  entitled  to  in- 
demnification under  the  first  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  and  for  the 
distribution  among  such  claimants  of  the  sum  paid  by  the  Government  of 
Great  Britain  under  the  Convention  of  ISth  November,  1826,  closed  their 
labors  on  the  30th  of  August  last,  by  awarding  to  the  claimants  the  sura  of 
one  million  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty-two  dollars  and  eighteen  cents ;  leaving  a  balance  of  seven  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  dollars  and  eighty-two  cents,  Avhich 
was  distributed  rateably  amongst  all  the  claimants  to  whom  awards  had 
been  made,  according  to  the  directions  of  the  act. 

The  exhibits  appended  to  the  report  from  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  Office,  present  the  actual  condition  of  that  common  pro- 
perty of  the  Union.  The  amount  paid  into  the  Treasury  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  lands,  during  the  year  1827,  and  the  first  half  of  1828,  falls  lit- 
tle short  of  two  millions  of  dollars.  The  propriety  of  further  extending 
the  time  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  debt  due  to  the  United  States  by 
the  purchasers  of  the  public  lands,  limited,  by  the  act  of  21st  March  last, 
to  the  fourth  of  July  next,  w  ill  claim  the  consideration  of  Congress,  to 
whose  vigilance  and  careful  attention,  the  regulation,  disposal,  and  pre- 
servation of  this  great  national  inheritance  has,  by  the  People  of  the 
United  States,  been  entrusted. 

Among  the  important  subjects  to  which  the  attention  of  the  present  Con- 
gress has  already  been  invited,  and  which  may  occupy  their  further  and 
deliberate  discussion,  will  be  the  provision  to  be  made  for  taking  the  fifth 
census  or  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  ot  the  United  States.  The  Con- 
stitution of  tlie  United  States  requires  that  this  enumeration  should  be 


[Doc.  No.  i^.]  15 

made  within  every  term  of  ten  years,  and  the  date  from  which  the  last 
enumeration  commenced  was  the  first  Monday  of  August  of  the  year  1820. 
The  laws  under  which  the  former  enumerations  were  taken  were  enacted 
at  the  Session  of  Congress  immediately  preceding  the  operation.  But 
considerable  inconveniencies  were  experienced  from  the  delay  of  legislation 
to  so  late  a  period.  That  law,  like  those  of  the  preceding  enumerations, 
directed  that  the  census  should  be  taken  by  the  Marshals  of  the  several 
districts  and  Territories  of  the  Union,  under  instructions  from  the  Secretary 
of  State.  The  preparation  and  transmission  to  the  Marshals  of  those  instruc- 
tions, required  more  time  than  was  then  allowed  between  the  passage  of  the 
law  and  the  day  when  the  enumeration  was  to  commence.  Tlie  term  of  six 
mon  ths,  limited  for  the  returns  of  the  Marshals,  w  as  also  found  even  then 
to«  short ;  and  must  be  more  so  now,  when  an  additional  population  of  at 
least  three  millions  must  be  presented  upon  the  returns.  As  they  are  to 
be  made  at  the  short  session  of  Congress,  it  would,  as  well  as  from  other 
considerations,  be  more  convenient  to  commence  the  enumeration  from  an 
earlier  period  of  the  year  than  the  first  of  August.  The  most  favorable 
season  would  be  the  Spring.  On  a  review  of  the  former  enumerations,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  plan  for  taking  every  census  has  contained  many  im- 
provements upon  that  of  its  predecessor.  The  last  is  still  susceptible  of  much 
improvement.  The  third  census  was  the  first  at  which  any  account  was 
taken  of  the  manufactures  of  the  country.  It  was  repeated  at  the  last  enu- 
meration, but  the  returns  in  both  cases  were  necessarily  very  imperfect. 
They  must  always  be  so,  resting  of  course  only  upon  the  communications 
voluntarily  made  by  individuals  interested  in  some  of  the  manufacturing 
establishments.  Yet  they  contained  much  valuable  information,  and  may, 
by  some  supplementary  provision  of  the  law,  be  rendered  more  effective. 
The  columns  of  age,  commencing  from  infancy,  have  hitherto  been  confin- 
ed to  a  few  periods,  all  under  the  number  of  45  years.  Important  know- 
ledge would  be  obtained  by  extending  these  columns,  in  intervals  of  ten 
years,  to  the  utmost  boundaries  of  human  life.  The  labor  of  taking  them 
would  be  a  trifling  addition  to  that  already  prescribed  ;  and  the  result 
would  exhibit  comparative  tables  of  longevity  highly  interesting  to  the 
country.  I  deem  it  my  duty  further  to  observe,  that  much  of  the  imper- 
fections in  the  returns  of  tiie  last,  and  perhaps  of  preceding  enumerations 
proceeded  from  the  inadequateness  of  the  compensations  allowed  to  the 
Marshals  and  their  assistants  in  taking  them. 

In  closing  this  communication,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  assure  tha 
Legislature  of  my  continued  earnest  wish  for  the  adoption  of  measures  re- 
commended by  me  heretofore,  and  yet  to  be  acted  on  by  thom  ;  and  of  the 
cordial  concurrence  on  my  part  in  every  constitutional  provision  which 
may  receive  their  sanction  during  the  Session,  tending  to  the  general  wel- 

JOUN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

Wasuunoton,  Decembers,  lb28. 


txynynH 


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